Grading Griffis
Entering the season opener against VMI, all eyes were on redshirt freshman quarterback Mitch Griffis. Thrown into a starting role amidst the uncertainty of Sam Hartman’s injury, the expectations for this team from an outside standpoint significantly changed. An opening matchup against a lowly FCS team at home under the lights was a great place for Griffis to set his feet as the interim leader of this football team.
In his first collegiate start, Griffis didn’t miss a beat, completing 21 of 29 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns. That performance earned him an A in our books.
“The whole day, I was like ‘oh my gosh, I’m starting a college football game,’” Griffis said after the game. “It’s a dream come true for me”.
“He’s now played a football game and whatever nerves and jitters in that first start is out of the way,” head coach Dave Clawson added.
The solid debut should assuage many concerns for Wake fans, and in turn add excitement for the future of the position. Let’s take a deeper look at his performance:
Strengths
Execution on big passes against pressure:
For his first collegiate start, Griffis was exceptional in his ability to not only go for the home-run passes, but complete them. He was especially adept in the face of pressure with the pocket collapsing. Griffis found himself in just that type of situation on his first touchdown pass of the night — with pressure coming from the left, he escaped to the right and threw a back-shoulder rope that only Taylor Morin could catch.
When facing the blitz, Griffis wasn't afraid to stay in the pocket and take a shot, though. With an aggressive rush coming from the left, he stood tall and threw an impressive over-the-shoulder pass to A.T. Perry, another example of a ball only the receiver could catch. Risk-averse passes are always something a coach likes to see, especially when they are within catching range of Perry, one of the best receivers in the ACC.
Spreading the ball around:
Connecting with seven different receivers on the night, Griffis displayed his ability to spread the wealth, an important quality to have in the ACC. Griffis found Morin (74 yards) and Donavon Greene (63) five times each to tie a team high in receptions.
The redshirt freshman was impressive in his ability to find the holes in the VMI defense, usually occupied by players outside of the core-four starting receivers. In the third quarter, with tight end Blake Whiteheart streaking over the middle, Griffis led the redshirt junior beautifully into the end zone.
In the fourth quarter, Griffis’ back shoulder pass to Jahmal Banks was pro-caliber. Shortening the pass to Banks allowed the receiver to separate from a cornerback in tight coverage and come back to the ball and secure the score. Having that sort of understanding with as many receivers as possible is a big advantage.
Building confidence and experience:
Don’t let the impressive start make you forget that this was Griffis’ first start in over two years, and his first in college. As each game goes along, it’s imperative that he gains even more confidence to stand in the pocket under pressure and go for the big pass.
“Getting settled in there and taking some shots definitely helped [my confidence] as the game went on,” Griffis said. “I have a really good offensive line and protection and some really dynamic wideouts. All those guys work really hard, so I trust them to go make plays on the ball.”
Griffis gaining experience from the game, whether it’s for this season or the future, was a big point of emphasis for Clawson.
“For him to get this experience and be able to play, whether it’s next week, or two weeks or next year, I mean, it’s just money in the bank,” he said.
Weaknesses
Batted Balls:
Throughout the game, Griffis found himself standing too close to the offensive line on multiple occasions. When a quarterback does this, they often have trouble getting the necessary elevation to find a receiver over the linemen. Not to mention, Griffis is 5’11” in stature, while his shortest starting lineman stands 6’3”. Two of his incompletions were batted down at the line of scrimmage by a VMI defender. Against stiffer competition, that number could be a lot higher if unchecked.
Being close to the line is a part of the slow-mesh offense, so a simple adjustment from Griffis will eliminate most of these batted balls moving forward. Hartman struggled with the same thing early on in his career, but he grew to become increasingly comfortable with his positioning in the pocket during the option.
